You need to look into "fit" before anything else, if it doesn't point where you are looking it is nothing but a burden that you carry through the woods, improved and modified chokes will get you through most seasons and 3 " is nice for late season ringnecks .
SKB's 101"s and Charles Daily's are all Japanese made and great quality for the money, Brownings are nice, and Red labels are heavy, but it all still goes back to how it "fits you" that make the difference, in quick, clean killer or just a nice gun.
FIT ??????
Unless one does what MCH did and has a custom stock made, how does someone arrive at a great fit with the examples you mentioned? They are all essentially made to the same dimensions.
What are the odds of someone his size, finding something mass produced that fits him?
They are made for Mr 5’10”, short neck, 170lbs and size 38-40 chest. Almost all will have neutral cast. How many does that fit?
When they are made the same, what does Mr non-average do? Actually Mr Average doesn’t necessarily meet their standards either. They guess on dimensions, yet a good fit, is a fairly exact set of individual dimensions.
So how does one arrive with a mass produced shotgun that fits? For those that care, they go to the effort of making it fit. Most don’t, and with an off the shelf, close is about as good as they will get. Which may not be all that bad.
Additionally unless they a have a repeatable mount, any good shot gun fitter will be guessing on the numbers, or ideally tell them to come back when they do.
Fit: Length of pull, drop at comb, drop at heel, cast and pitch....throw in grip dimensions for small or big hands. Off the shelf field O/U SKB's, Brownings and whatever, are pretty much all the same. One may feel better than another, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is a better fit.
